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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 128.111.121.42 on Fri, 10 Jul 2015 19:08:24 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SHORTER COMMUNICATIONS SHORTER COMMUNICATIONS ported in most studies of diurnal reptiles (Campbell and Tobler, 1984).We are reporting the first quantification of asynchronous eye closure in a reptile. The association of ASEC with body posture is very similar to SEO in that it is usually exhibited while in elevated postures. ASEC's association with postures that have been identified with wakefulness, and its allocation primarily to the light phase, suggest that this behavioral state is not a form of behavioral sleep in S. occidentalis. Furthermore, the lack of a detectable increase in arousal latencies during this eye state is contrary to the definition of behavioral sleep (Flanigan, 1972). It should be noted that the statistical power of the analysis of the arousal latency tests was low, and a larger sample size could conceivably detect a small yet statistically significant difference in reaction times between ASEC and SEO. However, reaction times during ASEC were nevertheless fast, and the mean reaction times during this eye state were actually faster than during SEO. However, this does not rule out an association between ASEC and some form of sleep in reptiles. In a recent study conducted on mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), Rattenborg et al. (1999) found that the open eye is functionally awake during ASEC, a behavior unambiguously associated with unihemispheric quiet sleep in birds. Thus behavioral methods may not be capable of detecting all of the physiological and behavioral states that provide the benefits of sleep (Rechtschaffen, 1998) to some organisms, and discounting ASEC in reptiles as any form of sleep based solely on this data may be premature.Thus, although the results of this study suggest that reptilian ASEC is not equivalent to behavioral sleep, it remains somewhat enigmatic. We suggest that ASEC behavior warrants further critical study in reptiles. We emphasize the need to search for an electrophysiological brain correlate of this behavior and additional behavioral studies to test specific hypotheses of the function of reptilian ASEC.Acknowledgments.-We wish to thank Steve Lima and Diana Hews for their much valued advice on data analysis and comments on the manuscript. Niels Rattenborg, Brian Sullivan, and two anonymous reviewers also made helpful comments on the manuscript. Jim Weese provided assistance with some of the pilot studies. This study was funded in part by NIMH grants RO1 MH37160 and RO1 MH42032 awarded to C. J. Amlaner. All experimentation was conducted under an approved animal care protocol, ISUIACUC 96 CA/CM. LITERATURE CITED...